Dr. Victor Blanchette appointed to the Order of Barbados for contributions to paediatric medicine and global child health

Dr. Victor Blanchette, McCaig Magee Family Medical Director, SickKids-Caribbean Initiative, Centre for Global Child Health, and Professor, Department of Paediatrics, University of Toronto, has been honoured with The Order of Barbados (Silver Crown of Merit).

This prestigious award was presented by the Governor General Dame Sandra Mason, on behalf of the Government of Barbados, in recognition of Blanchette’s substantial contributions to paediatric medicine and global child health. Blanchette received the award in a formal ceremony at the Barbados Government House on Jan. 10, 2018.

“I am humbled and honoured to have received this award from the country of my birth. I accept it on behalf of my family and the many friends and colleagues in Canada and globally who have supported me over the years. Most important the award recognizes a Caribbean-Canadian partnership of which I am very proud,” says Blanchette.

Blanchette is a passionate advocate and program leader in paediatric haematology and oncology. He co-chairs the SickKids-Caribbean Initiative (SCI), a partnership between the SickKids Centre for Global Child Health, the University of the West Indies, and ministries of health and hospitals in six Caribbean countries: Barbados, the Bahamas, Jamaica, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad and Tobago.

SCI’s overarching goal is to improve the diagnosis and treatment of paediatric patients with cancer and blood disorders through training and education in haematology/oncology, nursing and allied health services; establish best practices and improve health outcomes through local, hospital-based paediatric oncology databases, and treatment protocols adapted for local use; establish integrated and sustainable communication structures for bidirectional education among local partners to create and enhance a regional community of practice; and establish evidence-based policy recommendations relating to childhood cancer in the region.

Blanchette began working as a staff physician in the Division of Haematology/Oncology at SickKids and Professor of Paediatrics at the University of Toronto in 1983. He currently serves as Medical Director of the Paediatric Thrombosis and Haemostasis Program in the Division of Haematology/Oncology and Chair of the International Prophylaxis Study Group (IPSG), and as a Senior Associate Scientist Emeritus in the Research Institute and a Clinician Investigator in the Department of Paediatrics. Blanchette was a founding member of the Association of Haemophilia Clinic Directors of Canada and the Council of Canadian Paediatric Haematology/Oncology Directors Group, for which he was an inaugural Co-Chair. He was also a member of the boards of the Paediatric Oncology Group of Ontario (POGO), Camp Oochigeas, Camp Trillium and Candlelighters Canada. Blanchette is an elected fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of the United Kingdom.

In 2002, Blanchette was appointed as the Inaugural Holder of the Women’s Auxiliary Millennium Chair in Paediatric Haematology/Oncology at SickKids. He is a recipient of the Canadian Paediatric Society 2009 Alan Ross Award, the Canadian Blood Services 2010 Lifetime Achievement Award, and the American Society of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology 2012 Distinguished Career Award.

SickKids warmly and proudly congratulates Victor for this achievement!